Recipe: Skillet Toast with Radish-Olive Salad

Skillet Toast with Radish-Olive Salad

Serves 2 to 4 as a snack

I recently packed up all my cooking tools and moved across the country. I arrived in Brooklyn before the boxes did, and I set about trying to cook with limited kitchen equipment. The first thing I made was skillet toast, a thick slice of bread toasted in a pan with a generous amount of butter. It's a simple recipe, but it also leads to one of the most delicious snacks. You can top your skillet toast with spoonfuls of jam, a drizzle of honey, or with a jumble of radish-olive salad.

1 bunch radishes
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper
1 tablespoon chopped chives
5 - 7 basil leaves, thinly sliced
Sea salt
5 Castelvetrano olives
Unsalted butter, as needed
2 (½-inch-thick) slices of country bread
Flaky salt

Thinly slice the radishes and place them in a bowl. Squeeze in the lemon juice, pour in the olive oil, and toss to coat the radishes. Sprinkle the turmeric, Aleppo, chives, basil, and a pinch of sea salt over the radishes. Press the heel of your palm on each olive until it smashes under the weight and the pit comes loose. Slice the smashed olive pieces into thin strips. Add the olives to the radishes and mix well.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Generously butter both sides of the bread. Place the bread into the skillet and set some sort of weight on top. (I use a smaller skillet, but a heat-safe plate would work.) Toast the bread on the first side until it is brown and crisp, about 1 minute. Flip and toast the second side.

Slice the toasts in half to make 4 pieces. Pile the radish-olive salad on top of each piece, season with a pinch of flaky salt, and serve right away.